"You sure this is going to work?" Regina asks as Crystal leans in front of a cauldron in a thicket not too far from the outside of The Rabbit Hole bar. The water inside is just starting to boil as the younger of the two sorceresses continues to look through the potions book that Gideon had found for his older sister in the library. The sun is setting behind the trees that surrounded the two women as they worked on creating portal potions... well, Crystal is, Regina is simply there to hand her ingredients and seemingly be the voice of reason.
The daughter of Rumpelstiltskin shakes her head. "I have absolutely no clue."
"I don't understand why you're going through all this trouble for Granny. Just give her a bean and call it a day," the former Evil Queen sighs.
"You know beans just can't be given away like that; Tiny gets mad when you take just one and she would need two to get here and back. Besides, Granny doesn't ask for much most of the time, in fact, she let her restaurant be taken to Camelot once. Also, I found out that our family racks up a huge bill with her so if you'd rather pay for 28 years of free coffee you got from her when you were mayor during the curse, this is how I'm repaying her. I need a crow's foot..."
Regina hands her the ingredient she desires. Many of the supplies had been acquired from the former Evil Queen's vault. "I'd rather write a cheque than perform untested magic,"
"Like you never tried experimenting with magic before," the daughter of the Dark One scoffs. She adds a scrap of wheat to the bubbling water, causing it to turn a brown colour.
"Zelena has and that back-fired pretty spectacularly on her."
"I'm just trying to find a way to travel between realms not mess with the space-time continuum. I'm also doing it out of good nature, not revenge. Hand me a hazel stone."
Miss Mills just sighs. The girl is as stubborn as her father is, but at least she was trying to help someone then gain power. "Also, how am I going to be able to replenish my potion supply."
"I'll help you find more I promise," Crystal sighs, getting sick of listening to her friend's nagging concern.
"Sure you will," Regina mutters sarcastically. How many times had she heard that line before?
"Look the only reason you're not at home watching reruns of 90210 is that you're the only one I trust to help me. My dad wouldn't help me unless his dagger was melting, Belle wants to avoid magic for as long as possible, your sister is trying to toilet train your niece, Snow has to prepare exams for her class, David is on farmer time, Killian doesn't know squat about this kind of magic, and Emma's having a baby so..."
"Great, I am your last resort. You think this might not be a little bit dangerous?"
"That's why I asked you," she says smirking. When Regina scowls at her, Crystal laughs. "I'm kidding, it's why I'm doing it away from any buildings and I have you to help me since you have much more experience with potions than I do. I don't want to suck Storybrooke up into a giant wormhole and send us to the Netherworld."
"Is that even a real place?" Regina asks.
"You think that since there's a Wish Realm and an Underworld, there can't be a Netherworld? Regina, if there's one thing I've learned since I've come here is that almost anything can exist. In fact, I could probably summon Beetlejuice and he'd be real. Want to call his name three times? I do want Michael Keaton's autograph."
Regina rolls her eyes, very much used to Rumpel's daughter's sarcasm.
Crystal adds snowdrops, Snow's favourite flower, part of a dragon scale, either from Maleficent or Lily but the former Evil Queen cannot remember, the claw of a gryphon, a fleck of gold from her father's stash, and a few dead spiders. She adds a pinch of stardust; the concoction turns a gold colour and then the young enchantress cuts her finger allows a few drops of blood to enter the cauldron.
The liquid turns a very bright green and a beam of light shoots upward from the trees. It begins to bubble very rapidly, too fast. Crystal swallows hard and backs away.
"What's happening?" Regina swallows, taking a few steps back.
The younger of the two begins reading the potion instructions again, trying to figure out where she went wrong.
"Hit the ground," she says.
"WHAT?" Regina shouts.
"I said hit the ground...!"
At that moment, a large explosion erupts from the cauldron. Green and black smoke cover the clearing and spread out into the trees, dissipating from its former position.
When both Crystal and Regina pick their heads up out of the dirt, both are covered from head to toe in green powder mixed with ash on their faces. Crystal hacks out smoke from her lungs and slowly stands up. Fortunately, the cauldron is still in one piece, but completely devoid of any kind of potion. When Regina stands up again, she looks down at her clothes and then at the instigator of this mess. Both of them looked like her wicked half-sister in her true witch form. It was horrifying to think about.
"Too much blood and spiders..." Crystal says to herself, looking down at the book, which she had shielded from any harm with her body. "And not enough crows feet."
The former Evil Queen glares at the daughter of Rumpelstiltskin with such annoyance and anger, she can feel a fireball forming in her hands. One of her favourite casual outfits had been ruined and both of them had nearly been killed in the blast.
"We'll do better next time,"
"WE are not doing anything next time. This is YOU and only YOU from now on!" Regina snaps, doing her best not to raise her voice. She leaves all her ingredients in a heap. "This is on YOU. I am not going to waste my time doing something that might get me killed."
"Oh, come on Regina, what's the point of doing anything if you never take any risks?"
"Risks that almost get us killed and ruined one of my favourite outfits."
"Oh please, magic can fix it."
"I don't want magic to fix the necklace that Robin gave me," she snaps back.
Crystal stops immediately. She gazes at the gold chain around her friend's neck; she'd completely forgotten about the golden arrow that the deceased outlaw had given his one true love. The golden arrow was not only a symbol of Robin Hood as a whole but also of cupid's golden arrow, meant to find the individual's one true love, which Regina had foolishly wasted by turning it dark and trying to find the person she hated... who at the time was Snow White, but actually turned out to be herself. She wasted it once and she wasn't going to do it again. The golden arrow had struck her heart and she would always love her Robin Hood.
She swallows a large lump of guilt in her throat, reaching into her pocket and taking out her mother's golden heart-shaped locket, the one that held the picture of mother and daughter in their happier days and with her mother's name engraved on the front. A gift from her father to her mother, a symbol of love... not true love, but good love, one that would protect the heart from danger. The daughter of Rumpelstiltskin wipes the tears from her eyes and looks at her friend.
"You're right, I'm sorry Regina, can I buy you a new outfit and free coffee next week?"
"Make it two outfits and coffee with a muffin," the former Evil Queen says, it was now her turn to smirk.
"Fair enough, but we're not spending six hours in one store."
"Deal."
The two women shook hands to seal the deal, much like her father, Crystal was well known for her negotiating, something in her own nature.
"I'll figure it out tomorrow, let's go home and shower."
"That's the best idea I've heard all day," Regina says as the two walk away from the clearing to go home and get cleaned up.
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